In other words, the Marx Brothers were the thinking man's comedy team. The Three Stooges is for when you just want to sit bacl, turn your brain off and laugh at stupid s*** ... much like all of Adam Sandler's career!

The Four Horsemen of the Moviepocalypse: uncalled for sequels/remakes/reboots, 3-D surcharges, untalented "celebrities", and anything with Michael Bay's name attached to it.

In other words, the Marx Brothers were the thinking man's comedy team. The Three Stooges is for when you just want to sit bacl, turn your brain off and laugh at stupid s*** ... much like all of Adam Sandler's career!

That's really it in a nutshell, and that point was made frequently during the Cecil Adams discussion. The Straight Dope is kind of a thinking man's page though. I'd bet dollars to donuts that if the same discussion were conducted on, say, the Sly Stallone page, the Stooges would do considerably better.

Nine times out of ten, in art as in life, there is no truth to be discovered, only an error to be exposed.--H.L. Menken

I've never watched the Three Stooges, but upon hearing all this, I'd say we got a lucky break when the next movie adaptation went to development hell.

I'd agree on that as it was presented, but despite my personal distaste for their comedy, I wouldn't mind seeing a really well researched, factual biopic of them. For that matter, a similar project featuring the Marx Brothers would be worthwhile as well. So...there you have it, Hollywood. Two original, very interesting projects that probably every movie buff, or at least fan of movie comedies would absolutely love to see. That is exactly why neither will ever get made.

Nine times out of ten, in art as in life, there is no truth to be discovered, only an error to be exposed.--H.L. Menken

I'm sitting here reading this, recalling that there's a house owned by a couple down in San Diego where the husband is a Stooges fan. He has this really cool Three Stooges poster, with Curly Joe if I'm not mistaken as well as Moe and Larry, posing in front of a black background, covered with glass in a frame I can't recall, against a wall painted black. As I was admiring the poster, the wife started telling me what a Stooges fan the husband was.

I watched the 3 Stooges as a little boy, along with Laurel & Hardy. I may eventually pick up a Laurel & Hardy DVD if they ever release a decent collection. I won't turn the channel if the 3 Stooges happen to be on, but I won't seek them out. Still, I have great memories of them.

The Marx Brothers, on the other hand, I apparently have swallowed whole as a kid. I remember watching, not the box set HeadRAZZ put up, but the other one with Coconuts, Horse Feathers, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, etc. My friend loaned it to me, and she needed the captions to watch it. When I watched it, not only did I NOT need the captions, but I was already there for nearly every punchline Groucho delivered. I asked my Mom if we watched the Marx Brothers films when I was really young. She replied she tuned them in every time they were on.

I love the Marx Brothers, and I bought the box set HeadRAZZ put up. Still need to buy the other.

One of the reasons that I think a factual movie about the Stooges might be extremely interesting is their struggle to hang on to, or more accurately regain the limelight late in their careers/lives. No one can argue that they once enjoyed enormous popularity, but the entertainment world more or less passed them by and they made a series of increasingly sorry efforts to recapture their fame. Moe was planning all sorts of projects up until this own death. A Stooges movie was in the planning stages into the early 70's, but that got squashed when Larry Fine suffered a stroke. Even that didn't completely deter Moe Howard, who actually hired another actor to fill in for Larry, but there was very little interest among the studios to make another Stooges film even with Larry, and none without him. In a way, the whole story is pretty sad. Larry Fine died in January of 1975 and Moe Howard passed a few months later.

Nine times out of ten, in art as in life, there is no truth to be discovered, only an error to be exposed.--H.L. Menken

Let me say I support remakes of other movies(not book adaptations)that change a lot,specially tones and themes.What's the point of remaking a movie if you do the same thing again?

Making a story like this in modern day with more mainstream comedy isn't a bad idea(SHREK anyone?).But the comedy,although it can be silly,it can't be juvenile.The movie isn't funny.I laughed at very few jokes,and there were mostly modern pop culture allusions.

There are a lot of obvious plot holes,specially at the end,which is rushed as hell.Also,wasn't it wrong that DARCY promoted GULLIVER,who happens to be her boyfriend?And they just magically became good writers?Sure,the first time they wrote about their experience,but after that?

The performances were fine.Chris O'Dowd was hilarious!Emily Blunt...she seemed very much aware she was in a kids movie*.

Before I get into this, I have to say a few things. First, I've never read the original Swift story or seen any of the other adaptations. So, if something I complain about was handled better in the book, let me know. Second, since it's been a while since my last review and I've gained some new followers on Twitter, I should explain my format. I start out with things I found good about the film. Then I write about things I found bad about it. Then I write about the really bad (or ugly) things of the film.

The only good thing about this is Chris O'Dowd. He plays Edward, a Lilliputian general who has a crush on Emily Blunt like any sane non-gay man. He was the only thing about the film that actually made me laugh. Fortunately for him, he was in Bridesmaids the year after this came out.

Speaking of Blunt, she's very disappointing in this. Her main role is to sit around and look pretty. I saw her in Looper earlier today and she was much better in that. Hell, she was better in that crappy Wolfman remake. Also disappointing is Jason Segal. Segal's one of the funniest people working today so his comedic black hole of a performance is unexpected. Amanda Peet gives another crappy performance as Gulliver's editor.

Rob Letterman's direction is bad. It gives of the whiff of not giving a sh*t. The script is terrible as well. I'm surprised that Jack Black wasn't involved since the whole film is just him mugging for the camera. There's a lot of jokes that border on Seltzerberg territory. There's a scene where the only joke is that Gulliver is on movie posters like Avatar and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Wait, let me rephrase that: Gulliver is on movie posters for 20th Century Fox releases like Avatar and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I don't think I have to say what studio released this film. In another scene, Gulliver "plays" Rock And Roll All Nite on Guitar Hero. The "joke" is that the game characters are Lilliputians dressed up like KISS. Also, Gulliver most have photographic memory considering these jokes. The posters are dead ringers for the originals and since the Lilliputians can't have heard of them, the only explanation is that Gulliver can remember posters really well, which clashes with the film portraying him as an idiot slacker. The special effects for this are just ass. Jack Black is just horrible here. He deserved his Razzie nod. The toilet humor in this is horrific. In one scene Gulliver pees on a fire to put it out. Now, I've heard that is actually from the book, but I don't have a problem believing that it was handled better their. Jonathan Swift wrote an awesome poem about eating babies, but actually about the treament of the Irish, so it probably means something. If I'm wrong, tell me. In another gross out scene, Gulliver puts a guy in his buttcrack. But, the absolutely worst scene in the whole movie was when Edward commands a Transformer and beats up Gulliver. You didn't misread that, there's f*cking Transformers in this movie. This is something out of a Seltzerberg movie* and, like most of the special effects, it looks like ass.

Fun fact: Jonathan Swift isn't mentioned in the end credits. I have a very strong feeling that his ancestors don't have a problem with his name not being on this. Grade: D-

Next-up: Troll!

*in fact it is: there was a similar scene at the end of Meet The Spartans

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